Chapter 2: Visions

Amber decides to track down and discover the mystery of her father, but is haunted by strange dreams.

  Fallen

                                                               Chapter 2

                                                                 Visions

 

 

 

            After a few days of preparation Amber left for the Raleigh Airport. She have never been on an airplane before and decided to take one because it would be better than if she drove plus she has always wanted to fly. There was excitement with the terminal being full of all kinds of people; families, business men, religious solicitors, and who knows what else. It was the biggest variety of people she had seen in one place besides school and airport security was exactly like she heard it was, long, and slow as they had to check every little thing for anything that might be considered dangerous.

 

            Finally after everything she got to sit and wait in front of the gate where the flight was prepared for takeoff. The chairs were not very comfortable and the noise was bothersome and she scolded herself because she did not bring something to read or do while she waited. So Amber looked around to find something to do or be entertained with until it was time to leave, but she did not want to let her mind wander and drift off to her own thoughts about everything that went on, what might happen when she arrives, and all the different secret things that are hidden about her father. Amber’s mind always betrayed her when it came to thoughts about specific things she did not want to think about and tried to avoid which was an annoying habit of hers that makes it difficult for her to make decisions; she thinks too much.

 

            There were a couple places to get food in the entryway to the gates; one was a Subway sandwich shop unfortunately, that only lasted a moment before she lost interest and her mind went back to the graveyard during the funeral and as much as she did not want to think about all those things while she was moving to New York because she would just create more stress for herself than she already had; Amber couldn't help it. It pressed on her mind like a late night infomercial constantly repeating the same message over and over again all night, but the channel can't be changed because there is nothing else interesting on so you give in and start to watch it.

 

            Amber tried to remember what the guy in the trench coat looked like, but all she could remember was dark hair. He did have a darker face around the mouth up to the ears; probably a goatee or beard, he had darker hair which could be brown or black, but because the rain made it wet she couldn't be sure and couldn't see much else that would make him stand out. But what bugged her was she had never seen him before, at least she didn't think she has, so why he would put flowers at my mom's grave. Her mom never mentioned any friends she met because Amber knew all of her friends. Maybe he was a friend of my dad's and she did not see him at his funeral because she left earlier or maybe he was just being a shy person.

 

            She gave up on what he looked like and started to think about the shy or secretive personality of someone she didn’t even know, but that annoyed her more so she forced her mind elsewhere. Amber sat there bored and frustrated while she tried to keep her mind on other things for what seemed like an eternity before the flight was ready to load passengers. She jumped up and rushed to the front and felt more excited than she thought she would be. Amber couldn't help but smile the whole time with energy that built up in her chest; her fingers twitched, and ever her toes danced around inside her shoes

 

            The plane was more spacious than she imagined although she specifically asked for a window seat and since this was Amber’s first time in a plane she definitely made sure she got it; first class of course.

 

            She looked out the window at all the people that ran around and some drove little carts full of luggage around as she waited in anticipation for takeoff. Her leg bounced up and down as she sat there and by the time they finished with the passengers on the plane she had one person sit down next to her.

 

            He was a complete stranger, but she greeted him happily, Amber was a little bored and tried small talk to pass the time unfortunately nothing lead to a real conversation so once again was left to boredom and anxiousness. The pilot came on over the P.A. and started his little speech to tell them how fast they would go and how high they would be and how long it would take. Honestly she did not care about anything he was saying, but just wanted to be in the sky already.

 

            When he finished with his speech all the safety precautions started and she was amused to see the flight attendant with her demonstration of how to use a seat belt, obviously paid attention to the other safety shows because she did not want to be left out of what to do should we need oxygen masks or something.

 

            The moment Amber had waited for came as the plane started to rumble and we backed away from the gate and the plane turned onto the runway and she could see other planes land and take off or being refueled. She smiled the biggest smile as we started to move faster.

 

            At first, it felt almost as if she was in a car until the weight of the plane lifted up and took her with it and then gravity fought against the plane, on her. It exhilarated Amber as she saw the ground pull away from her and the clouds got closer. As they got higher she felt the pressure in her ears which she had only felt under water only it was a little different. The clouds seemed almost like fog as they passed through them and soon they rose above the clouds and she could see what can only be described as a sea of clouds that stretched the entire world topped off by a light blue sky. Amber fell in love with the view of the sky and clouds that looked so beautiful together.

 

            A trip in an airplane was everything she thought it would be and absolutely loved it. The world seemed so different from way up high and it really put things in perspective for her how small and insignificant they were in comparison to the rest of the world. It was kind of the same feeling she got whenever she star gazed, the vastness of the universe that completely humbled her. Amber started to wish she took a flight at night so she could see the stars. After she was up this high in the sky she could not help but feel like there was some kind of other world; a world of beauty and simplicity that was lost with technology and civilization and it almost felt like she longed for something more and maybe that was the reason she has had so much trouble in school because she did not know what to do with her life and has looked for something that was not there in front of her. It was something deeper and something she had to search for to discover on her own, something that was not a path walked by anyone else and was completely new yet Amber had no idea what to do or even how to look for it which made her feel stuck and hopeless without direction. So that must be why she felt that maybe if she went to New York to get a change of scenery that it might help, but more importantly if she were to learn something about her dad that could give her a clue, to solve the mystery of her father might make solving the mystery of herself easier.

 

            It must have been the altitude or the hum of the engines on the plane, but not very long into the flight Amber grew very comfortable and fell asleep. Soon it was dark all around her as she pulled the shade down on the window and closed her eyes, but still heard a very low hum and a soft rumble that lulled her deeper into slumber and her mind.

 

            When she opened her eyes it was day time and she was up in the sky, like she was flying. There was a city below her right next to the ocean and it was a huge city with buildings that reached up into the sky like they tried to connect to the heavens. The city looked magnificent from so high up and as she looked down Amber could see every car on the streets below that ran around like mice in a maze, the city was full of life and energy; everyone, everywhere was busy and moved from place to place. Further ahead she could see the ocean which sparkled a golden color from the rays of the sun which dominated not only the ocean, but the sky too, that set the clouds as a pinkish hew mixed with white and blue. It was beautiful, but strange as she realized the sun began to set in the east and not in the west, something else started to happen as the sun set in the wrong direction that was an unusual sight to see; this small line of darkness stretched across the horizon rose upwards as it seemed to come from all around not just from in front of her and it started towards the city. It came far from her left and right and even from behind her. Everywhere she looked a dark line grew from the horizon and turned into a black landscape, soon it engulfed the ocean and sky around Amber and only the city was left barely lit in the wall of darkness. Amber reached down to the city to pull it up and save it, but couldn't reach as it seemed to get smaller or further away. She looked at the borders of the city where it met the darkness and she could see hands, many hands reach, grab outwards from the darkness and they tried to pull whatever they could into itself. There were people that ran from the darkness; many people and some were grabbed by the hands and

disappeared into the darkness, completely vanished from sight and from existence as others just vanished while in the city into alleys and buildings, then in front of them, where ever they ran, some fell to the ground and began to shake and convulse. They were the ones Amber wanted to help the most as their bodies seemed to be ravaged with pain and what devastated her was she could see a small light from inside of them flicker and she looked closer into their eyes and it felt like she had pierced into their spirits, their souls. The souls were a brilliant white that emitted a warm glow and then nothing as the light vanished from their eyes and all that was left was a cold, dead, lifeless body. Amber began to cry and could not stop the tears as she cried out for them to run. She could feel the warmth at first and then see the light disappear and her heart ached with pain, the same pain that those poor people felt. The darkness consumed most of the city except a small portion in the center and all of the people were gone except for one that stood in that small area not yet consumed by the darkness. It was her, Amber saw herself all alone, but she stood there in the clearing with her shoulders up rite and my back straight. Amber stared into the darkness with the same tears that rolled down her own face, but the other Amber had a gaze so strong and determined it was almost like she stared death in the face and refused to go with him despite the immense fear that had a hold over her. Then she saw a small light in the darkness that was faint and it seemed to move towards the other Amber in the clearing, the light slowly cut its way through the darkness and as it reached the clearing it exploded with a great fiery white light, the same as the sun first looks as it rises above the mountains. She had to put her hand up to not be blinded and as her eyes got used to the light she looked at her other self; she wasn't afraid anymore and in fact seemed happy. Amber tried to look into the bright light and all that could be see was a hand that reached past the darkness through the light and as it did large and beautiful white feathers fell from all around me. The hand was held, palm open, to the other Amber as if it asked her to take it. She saw herself move without hesitation and step forward even though she could not see who or what it was. The hand came further out of the light and as it did the light began to grow brighter and brighter and opened up a pathway through the darkness from where it came that felt like it lead to somewhere safe. Amber saw her other self slowly lift her hand up inch by inch and moved it towards the feeling of safety that the palm in front of her radiated.

 

            But before she could reach the hand Amber woke up to the rough shake the plane made as it touched down on the ground. She did not move at all when she woke up and as soon as the plane was steady the pilot thanked us and then she looked around to see people already started to gather their things and make it off the plane as quickly as they could so she just sat in her seat and waited for everyone else to get off. The dream Amber had was all she could think about and it scared her. She tried to figure out what it meant and she did not know what was going on with these dreams she started to have since her mother's funeral. Amber didn't know how much more she could take, but the last thing that passed over her like a wave was comfort as she thought about the hand from the light.

 

           

 

            She left the airport as quickly as she could and got a ride in a taxi Michael sent for her because he was unable to pick her up himself and then went to New York City which was exciting for her never being out of North Carolina before, this was her first time. It was not anything impressive at first because all that was on her mind was the dream she had, the first place she wanted to go was her dad's apartment and would not let herself live it down if she did not figure this whole thing out first.

 

            As the taxi pulled up to the building she could feel her stomach start to fill with butterflies and became nervous because she had no idea what to expect.

 

            New York was a large city and amber could not help but look up and bend her neck and sometimes lean back completely just to see the tops of the buildings around her which most of the buildings looked the same; building material, color, size, etc. etc.

 

            The driver helped her get her luggage out of the car and then she gave him the fare. As Amber stood there many people walked by and it was just like she saw on T.V. so she took a deep breath and picked up her luggage and stepped up to the building.

 

            It was an older looking building with weather-worn brick siding. She looked at the list of names next to the intercom. "Keith Alister." My father, apartment #7C. Amber realized she had no way to get into the building so she set my bags down and looked for the Super Intendant of the building and pressed the button. She waited a little before a woman's voice pierced through the small intercom.

 

            "Hello?" Her voice was kind of low and a little raspy.

 

            "Uh, yes. Hi. My name is Amber Alister. My father is Keith Alister. He..." She paused a moment.  "Uh, he lived in apartment #7C." Amber finished and waited for her to answer, but almost right away she replied.

 

            "Oh! Alright. Hang on a sec." Amber sighed and started to look around. The entrance to the building was a bit dingy; the cement was not well kept and the brick walls were spotted with gum. She didn't understand why her dad would live in a place like this with all the money he had. Not long and an older woman of maybe her mid-fifties came up to the door, her hair was brownish-gray and it was done up in curls to just above her shoulder, her face was not too wrinkly, but you could tell by the color of her teeth and slightly on her skin that she was a smoker. She looked me over then opened the door.

 

            "Hi." Amber said as she tried to sound friendly.

 

            "Hello." She said back. "Well, come inside. I'll show you to his apartment." She turned around and started to walk away so Amber quickly picked up her things and followed the older woman.

 

            They walked up two sets of stairs to the 3rd floor then went down the hallway about half way and on the left was his apartment. 7C. The little pieces of metal in those shapes were very clean so looked across the hall at the other door and they were darker and a little crooked.

 

            "Your father, Keith..." Amber looked at her as she spoke. "He was a good man. A real looker too." She said with a small chuckle. "He said that you would come by if anything ever happened to him." She pulled out a set of keys and started to sort through them looking for the right one.

 

            "He said that?"

 

            "I thought it was strange he said that, but at the same time didn't really pay attention until I heard he passed away."

 

            "Well, how long did he live here?" Amber asked.

 

            "Oh he lived here a few years and it was good having him. He was a good tenant. I'm sorry though..." She said as her voice dipped close to silence at the end.

 

            "Sorry for what?" Amber did not understand why she would say that.

 

            "Well, I don't know if it's my place to say; it's just we would talk sometimes. He would mention you and just that he regretted not being able to see you. So I'm sorry that you lost him and never really got a chance to, I don't know, be a family. I know how it can be. I have a similar situation with my son." Her words almost stung Amber because it was kind of sad when she thought about it and Amber could hear the sincerity in the woman’s voice.

 

            "Thank you." Amber said and nodded a little.

 

            The woman found the key and opened up the door and stepped inside. Amber followed inside after her and set her luggage down. His apartment was nice; it had a good leather couch and a decent sized T.V. The floor was hardwood and there was a small dining table with only 2 chairs but it could easily seat four, a small hallway off to her right showed three other doors and attached to the living room on her left was the kitchen. Everything was clean and neat.

 

            "So are you here to get some of his personal things? I left them here for you when you showed up." The woman asked.

 

            "How did you know I was coming?" Amber asked.

 

            "Someone from his job called me and informed me of his death and then a week later called back to tell me you were coming."

 

            "What was his name?"

 

            "I'm not exactly sure. I can't remember. Didn't really pay attention." She laughed a little at herself. "Age is starting to get to me."

 

            "Are you sure? Not even a first name?"

 

            She paused a moment and closed her eyes. "Ah. Started with a "J." Jackson, Jimmy, John, Jeff, Joel, something like that."

 

            Amber tried not to sigh in disappointment. "Oh, okay. Thanks." Amber smiled to hide her frustration.

 

            "So what are you doing here?"

 

            Amber almost gave the real answer to the question; to figure out the mystery of her dad but when she thought about it, it was kind of silly to say.

 

            "Oh. Well, I don't know what I was going to do here." Amber answered her with a different honest answer.

 

            "You have a place to stay?" She asked concerned.

 

            "Well kind of. I am supposed to have a place in the dormitory by the university, but until it was ready I was going to stay at a hotel for a few days." The woman nodded at her.

 

            "Well, your father ended up buying this apartment." Amber looked at her with a little surprise. "So you wouldn't have to pay rent, just utilities, if you were to stay. You are welcome to. And technically he did put you as part owner so..." She stopped mid-sentence to leave the obvious part unsaid.

 

            "It's mine" Amber finished her sentence, but it felt almost like she spoke to herself.

 

            After she left Amber unpacked a few of her things in the living room. Amber didn't know how comfortable she felt to stay there so she looked around the apartment, one of the rooms was his bedroom which was very plain, there was a blue comforter on the bed with two pillows and a small nightstand with an empty notebook and a small desk lamp, the closet had some clothes in them, a few suits and some jeans and T-shirts, she also found a small wooden cane in the back corner of the closet however, she did not find anything she seemed to want the most; but she did find a picture of Amber and her mom. She wanted to see some evidence that he thought about her, but she found nothing else than the single photo.

 

            The second room was just a bathroom and the last room was strange because there was nothing in it. The windows were sealed off with brick so no light would get in. The floor was just wood and there was no closet. She didn't understand what this room was for but it gave her the creeps.

 

            Amber went back into the living room and stopped in a stupefied shock as she had not noticed before because her mind was so distracted. There was a bouquet of dead roses in a vase that sat on the kitchen counter. Amber slowly walked over to them to look at them and there was water in the vase, but the roses were dead and they reminded her of the ones at her mother’s grave. She just stood there and stared at them because this was all too strange as she went over in her mind about what they could mean, or what they were for, or why they were dead and nothing made sense so she grabbed the roses and put them in that empty room. Amber didn't want to look at them, but to throw them away for some reason just seemed wrong.

 

            So she decided to make the best of everything and to stay there until her room at university was ready. Amber got all my dad's clothes and put them in the empty room then put hers in the closet. Although she left the cane in the bedroom because she thought it would be a good weapon to use in case someone ever broke in to the apartment. Amber now lived in New York City and wanted to be careful so then she moved everything in the bathroom to the last room too and stretched her legs in the living room before she sat down on the couch and turned on the television after all her work moving things. She figured she would get herself accustomed to the channel differences. She liked to watch the cooking channel and she knew how weird she was because of this, but Amber liked to watch infomercials especially, late at night cuddled up with a blanket and some random midnight snack to eat.

 

            Not long after she got settled down Amber got bored and wanted to go out and see New York City. The sun was still up in the sky, but it slowly worked its way down, with a glance at the clock it was 12:30pm and she figured there was a few hours to sight see before it got too late so she quickly threw on an outfit she liked, but covered it up with a big sweatshirt. Amber wanted to know that she looked good, but was not in the mood to have guys look her all over.

 

            Before she went outside Amber made sure she had the key the older woman gave her and then stepped outside into the New York City streets. Almost immediately she got swept up in the energy of everyone around her and just started to walk and after a while she found herself near the Empire State Building.

 

            It was so high up in the sky she got a little dizzy just looking at it, but was too excited to let that bother her and quickly rushed inside and made my way to the top. However, it took forever, hours went by as she waited in line behind lots of other people who wanted to add the Empire State building to their, "Must see tourists sites list" but finally after what seemed like hours she got to walk out onto the roof.

 

            The view was incredible and breathtaking because she could see everything in the city around her and even the Statue of Liberty off the coast. Amber had this feeling of patriotism come over her as she stood there; it made her smile. She ran around the top of the building and looked in every direction at everything however it all seemed familiar. Amber could see the city inside her head from so high above it at the same time she saw it from the level of the highest building, but it was still different in some way.

 

            Amber then felt the weight of the world bare down on her as she saw the same darkness from her dream rise up from the horizon and could see people run and scream from all around her. As she thought about it the city she saw in her dream on the plane looked exactly like New York. It was then the darkness rushed quickly across the city to the Empire State building and it climbed up the sides of the building, consumed it, and the darkness flew over the top and crashed down on Amber like a tidal wave with shadowy hands that grabbed and squeezed the life out of anything it touched.

 

            When Amber woke up people stood all around her and asked if she was okay.

 

            "What happened?" She asked to anyone that would answer. A security guard came into view from behind her and spoke.

 

            "You fainted just a moment ago." He offered to help her up and took his hand and slowly got up

 

            "Oh, I'm okay. It's just my first time up here. I must have gotten dizzy from the height." She faked a laugh to set their minds at ease and after a few moments someone that said they were a doctor had asked her some questions to make sure she was okay and finally she able to escape the concern of strangers, too many strangers, that just stared and whispered to each other and it made her very uncomfortable.

 

            So she left the building right after that and did not know or understand what happened, but it seemed more real than in a dream and it frightened her. Amber shook from the fear and it took all her might to convince herself she was fine, then hailed a taxi down and thought it would be better to get a ride rather than walk. He asked her where she was headed, but she didn't know where else to go right now so she told him to take her to the university.

 

            Unfortunately Amber had the pleasure of her first experience in a New York City traffic jam right around rush hour. There was not a lot to look at out the window other than angry people in their cars that waited to get through traffic. She moved to the other side of the taxi and looked out the window at some of the stores, but nothing of interest caught her eye until she saw what appeared to be an older looking store hid in the depth and camouflage that is New York. It was not big and it was called, "Lost History." Amber gave some money to the driver and got out of the car. She did not know what it was, but she felt drawn to that place, but it was part of another building that did not have much else to it; both looked less then welcoming.

 

            Amber walked up to the door which was a little larger than most average doors and made of wood; it was a really old looking wood, but it was strong and sturdy as she touched it. She opened the door and a small ding from a bell rang to announce her entrance and stepped inside and it was what looked like a library, there were several rows of books across the room and it looked like it went back a ways, and over to the left side there was a small desk with several open books and lots of papers scattered about it.

 

            There was no one around or at least none that she could see so Amber walked over to the desk and started to look at one of the books.

 

            "Can I help you?" A man's voice from behind her pierced the silence. Startled, she accidentally knocked over some of the books on the desk.

 

            "I am so sorry." Amber managed to mumble out as she immediately bent down to pick them up and heard footsteps come up next to her as she saw the man bend down next to her to help grab the books. She looked at him and he did not look like what she would consider a librarian with his unshaven face, in fact it was a semi-hardy beard that covered most of his face, he had short, dark brown hair which was all messy, and he wore glasses, his pants were tan slacks, but seemed very worn and dirty, and he had a white long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pulled up which looked well-worn too.

 

He looked up at Amber from the books and he looked me over as she had done to him. His glance seemed to stop at my eyes where it then turned into a stare and Amber looked back into his eyes to as if to ask what he was looking at, they were a dark brown and as she looked she thought they were very deep and intense about to the point she started to feel uncomfortable because our eyes had met and he made a very slight smirk she wasn’t sure if she actually saw or not.

 

            "You have pretty eyes." He said before he looked to the books then stood up and put them back on the desk. It was hard to tell what kind of smirk it was with the beard or if he even smirked and what he really thought.

 

            "Oh. Uh, thanks." Amber replied then stood up after him.

 

            "Can I help you?" He asked again.

 

            "I was just curious what this place was. The name of it is kind of mysterious." Amber said with a silly tone of voice and emphasis on, "mysterious." He nodded.

 

            "Well, feel free to look around. This bookstore has a lot of books, but most of the books in here you can find anywhere on the Internet now days. This just has the hardbound copies." He said.

 

            "Okay. It kind of looked like a library. What kind of books are they?" She asked.

 

            "Mainly old Greek and Latin recordings of early history and even a few Mesopotamian transcripts and maps. It’s for educational reading and we do have a vast section of novels too." He answered.

 

            His voice seemed oddly soft and comfortable, but stern and defensive at the same time.

Amber never heard a voice like it before, so contradicting which she kind of liked and it was strange as she listened more to the sound of the words he said than the actual words themselves.

 

            Before Amber started to blush because she realized she did not really hear a thing he said and smiled and thanked him, but told him she wasn't a big history buff. He nodded, but did not smile back then he turned and vanished into the aisles of books. She took one more look around before she left, but noticed on one of the books on the desk a familiar writing that reminded me of the writing that was in the letter her dad wrote me before he died. That place could've been where he got it from or something and she thought that maybe she would come back later with the letter and see if this librarian or bookstore guy could help her find out what it means.

 

            As Amber stepped outside everything was different and she was not at the store she was in just a second ago, the street and the buildings were changed almost instantly and it was night time and there was no one around.

 

            She saw a woman who wore dark clothes; some black pants and a black leather jacket with short blond hair and her eyes seemed to glow and shine like a cats, but they also looked normal at the same time. It was almost like there were two different sides of her, but then she turned a corner down an alley and as curious as Amber was she followed her and walked in after her to ask her if she could tell Amber where she was and maybe help find her way home.

 

            She disappeared as Amber entered the alley way which was empty except for boxes and dumpsters; she walked in further to look for her. There was a scream from a man that came from behind Amber so she turned around and there was a dead end. She saw the woman stand over a man on the ground with his chest that moved quickly up and down and blood was all around his body. The woman looked back at me and she had a fiendish smile on her face and the man reached towards me with a painful look on his face that cried out in fear.

 

            "Help..." He whispered as he struggled to breathe, but Amber could not see his face, it was blurred. The woman turned around and came towards her and she could see a small trickle of blood drip from her lips.

 

            "You're the one I've been looking for." She said. The woman’s face changed like she recognized who Amber was from this devilish grin to a frightened gaze. She put her hand up towards Amber and her eyes started to tear up.

 

            "Help me." She cried.

 

            The next moment Amber was back out on the streets, the man and woman were gone and she stood on a corner. She looked around and realized Amber was at her dad's apartment and somehow made it back there and looked at her watch and it was a little after 11:00pm. Amber went up to the apartment and fumbled with the key as she tried so desperately to get it in the doorknob. Amber was scared and had no idea what had happened, she saw these weird images in my head and then blacked out, then saw someone in trouble and two people asked for help, then turned up somewhere else. Amber rushed up the stairs and into the apartment then got into the bed and curled up with Stuart, her clothes still on.

 

            Amber stared at the wall and contemplated how alone she really was now that her mom was gone.

 

            "Dad..." Amber said out loud in his empty room. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm scared." She hoped he could hear her even though he was gone. "I'm here trying to find out more about you and all these weird things are happening to me. I don't know what to do." She took a deep breath, stayed still, and closed her eyes and wiped the tears away.

 

            “Why did you leave me and mom?” The question Amber really wanted to ask him.

 

            "What am I doing here?" She tried to answer her own question but just felt stupid as she tried to talk to her dead father. Amber thought through everything in her mind over and over again and nothing made much sense. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and grabbed a pillow and threw it as hard as she could across the room. Amber was frustrated with everything that was going on and it drove her crazy and it just confused her more to think about it. Amber was flustered, angry, confused, and tired by that time with everything that happened and to think about it worked her up only to give her a headache. She then heard a noise come from outside the room.

 

            It was dark in the apartment with the only light that came in from the windows. She did not want to turn on any lights to give whoever was in the apartment the ability to see her better so she slowly got out of the bed and walked over to the closet where she left her dad’s cane. Amber grabbed it and gripped it like a baseball bat then quickly, but quietly opened the door and looked around. There was no one there, but to her right she heard what sounded like footsteps so she turned to swing as hard as she could, but there was still nothing. She looked at the door to the empty room and it was slightly open even though she knew she shut that door. Amber took a quick look in the living room and kitchen to make sure there was not anyone that hid in there then slowly crept down the hall to the room and at this point she was so scared and nervous, but with every step closer then more and more the adrenaline inside her pumped through her body and pushed Amber to take one more step then another. Her breathing started to get heavy but kept it as quiet as she could. The footsteps were light on the wood floor and she could feel her hands get sweaty from the hold on the cane which was so tight, but she didn't relax my grip.

 

            Amber reached the door and looked inside through the crack of the open door, but it was pitch black inside except the light that came in from the door. She thought she saw something move inside perhaps someone was inside and waited for me to go back to the bedroom so he can escape, or worse. Amber took a deep breath and let go of the cane with one hand and slowly moved the other hand in between the door and the frame to turn on the light. In her mind Amber planned it perfectly to open the door, hit the light switch, and beat whoever it was with the cane. Her mind ticked as she counted to three several times, but with no success and each time she chickened out. The fear had gripped her enough she could not bring herself to do it. Amber shook her head and screamed inside her mind to just do it; one, two, three.... Now! And she moved with speed she had not felt before.

 

            The light flashed on as she burst into the room full strength and swung the cane blindly like a sword. The cane cut through the air and landed with a hard thump on the floor and the room was empty except for the few bathroom things, a pile of clothes, and the flowers she had in the far corner and she slumped to her knees defeated in scaring herself over nothing.

 

            "Am I going crazy?" Amber asked herself.

 

            She felt a hand on her shoulder and froze with her whole body stiff from fear and she could barely breathe as her heart skipped a beat. Amber did not dare move as she looked at the ground in front of her and saw a large shadow was cast over her. She could feel whoever it was shift its body next to her; crouched on the ground. She felt a hand on her other shoulder and she swallowed nothing but saliva as she tried to gather the courage to move and slowly regained the vice-like grip on the cane to prepare herself to do whatever she had to, to protect herself. Amber could sense his lips move, but no sound came out then just a moment later she could hear a voice echo inside her head.

 

            "Don't be afraid my Little Princess." All of a sudden her body perked up and she could feel her eyes widen as Amber recognized that voice.

 

            "Dad?" The words came out by themselves and Amber quickly turned to see his face next to mine. There sat her dad crouched next to her and she turned around all the way and sat back on my butt and rested on my hands. She stared him straight in the face and he smiled at her, but his face looked tired and stressed which was different than she remembered, he had a little longer hair almost to his shoulders and it had even started to gray a little from the even brown color that it used to be and at that point Amber could feel herself begin to cry as he smiled a little smirk which put all her fears to rest and she felt completely safe.

 

            Almost in the same instant Amber sat up in bed and there was sunlight that came through the window and the cracks of the door. She looked around and her father was gone. She felt her face which was all wet from tears she had cried in her sleep so she wiped away the tears with her hands and bed sheet. Amber felt him; her dad was here or was he? Was what she had just a dream or something else? Was it like those other images she had seen? All that Amber knew was she was not scared anymore.

 

            After Amber got ready for the day she looked in that empty room, but there was nothing unusual so she stepped inside to see if she could feel him there, but did not feel anything so she left immediately.

 

            Today was the first day Amber would start at university because she had come in mid semester, but they were able to work things out for her. It was a large university just like North Carolina at least from her point of view. Luckily, Amber was able to find her way around easy enough and the classes were full of people of all kinds in these large auditoriums like classrooms. The day seemed very long and the classes seemed even longer. Amber was a junior that took generals and electives which she was just about finished with so she needed to figure out where she wanted to go from there, but she still felt lost as she always had before. After she finished classes Amber walked around campus for a while to try and get familiar with everything and found this nice little grassy spot with two or three small trees around it. The grass was a little worn so people hung out there often or passed through and she could see why because it seemed to be the quietest area around, there were few people, and you could not really hear the noise of traffic or college students make noise and you could hear nature and it felt good so she decided to lay down and let it soak in.

 

            It was strange that the weather was so nice because she thought it was supposed to be a little colder around this time of year in New York, but it did not bother her much as she got lost in the sky. Amber looked at the clouds in the sky and started to see the different shapes, sizes, and objects which at first they were normal things like bunnies or flowers then they started to look very strange and began to move fast and took on shapes she didn't understand at first as the clouds looked like writing; the same language Amber saw in the letter her dad left me and the book at the store. After that the letters changed and took shapes of what looked like giant lizards with wings and as she thought more about it they looked like dragons. These dragons flew around the sky and there were many of them and they were magnificent beasts with scales and claws, but even with that reptile look they were almost beautiful. One by one they flew off into the sky and could not be seen anymore until there were none left and after a while she did not see any clouds except this one small one which was white and puffy like the kind of clouds kids would draw. It slowly started to grow and take shape; it grew and grew until it took up half the sky and it looked like it was a city, a city unlike anything she has ever seen, there was a large tower that came right out of the middle of the city and reached up into the sky. It was so detailed and everything was outlined with exact precision of the building which looked so futuristic with a glass-like metal that was so smooth it left her in complete awe as she looked at it with such excitement and wonder she had never felt before.

 

            Then all of a sudden the darkness that Amber had seen before that attacked New York City started to grow and consume this cloud city, but the city seemed to fight the darkness. The white clouds and the darkness seemed to fight for a long time back and forth; each struggled to overpower the other and she could feel the ground shake from the conflict. Soon it became so violent the city began to crumble and the buildings broke apart and shattered and fell to the ground all around her in huge blocks of white smoke that disappeared after it hit the earth. The white clouds disappeared and all that was left was darkness.

 

            Amber looked frantically for some light and then started to feel the fear crawl back into her body through her spine. She would do anything, go anywhere; it did not matter to her as long as she could just see something. The darkness scared her and she did not want to be left alone, but just then a small light began to glow in front of her. It was a white ball of light that split into five different balls; spheres of lights, a white; green, blue, red, and purple that started to glow brighter and she could see that each light shot out a ray towards her. It looked like a road through the darkness to the spheres of lights, all five different roads to guide me, but then the roads continued in the opposite direction from her as they lead from the spheres, but eventually merged together in the distance, all the different lights into one road that lead further away from her. Amber did not really understand what it meant or where it lead, but she started to feel relieved as she could see past the darkness and the spheres of light; Amber saw what looked like another city that was made out of something even better than the cloud city all colored gold and white as it slowly appeared out of the darkness at the end of the road. She wanted to go there and so she reached out towards it and tried to move forward. Amber could not describe exactly what the material of the building was, but it had an almost crystal look to it.

 

            Amber found herself alone on a sidewalk somewhere in New York City with her hand stretched outward so she pulled it back and looked around to see if anyone was saw, but no one was there.

 

            She figured she blacked out again and wound up at some random place so she looked around and could not see any taxi's, but after amber scanned the area for a minute more thoroughly she noticed a bus stop down the street and ran towards it because she was very afraid to be alone in the city at night. She made it to the bus stop and looked at the schedule on the pole which was very worn and dirty, but could make out most of the times. It was almost 10:00pm as she looked at her watch and the last bus to arrive was at 10:05pm which left her relieved. Amber could have been stranded for hours for all she knew or who knows what else could have happened and so she checked her purse and found a few quarters to use for the bus.

 

            Amber stood there at the bus stop for a few minutes and waited impatiently as she looked behind her to see an alley that she glanced down quickly at the trash and dumpsters to see if there was anything of interest to look at while she waited. Sadly there was more in the alley to look at than what was around the streets.

 

            As she looked at the alley it seemed to move closer to her so she rubbed her eyes and nothing was wrong as the alley was where it was originally. Amber looked down the street to see if she could see the bus, but saw across the street a car that had rust all over it and she shook her head and sighed at that place.

 

            "This place is awful." She said to herself.

 

Amber heard what sounded like a bottle skipped across asphalt only to look down the street and see nothing then heard something behind her that sounded like a light thud on the sidewalk, but before she could turn to look Amber felt a hand cover her mouth and an arm wrap around her body trapping her left arm. Amber tried to scream, but it was muffled so she started to kick and jump around which got difficult because her body was lifted up off the ground as she was carried backwards into the alley. She could see the sides of the buildings go by her as she moved further into the alley. Amber tried to hit him with my right arm which did not do anything and she could not pry his hand from her mouth to call for help either.

 

            She was finally able to buck her body hard enough the man lost his grip on her and she fell to my feet and stumbled forward as to run. The person behind her grabbed her shoulder turned her around as he came into view she saw what the man wore; a dark blue hoodie and jeans, but his face was covered by the hood and all she could see was his lips and chin; the rest was hid in darkness.

 

            He lifted his fist and threw it at Amber, but she did not expect that nor could she move fast enough out of the way and he hit her in the face across the cheek. Amber fell to the ground and put her hands to her left cheek which burned and stung. The man knelt down and reached for her, but she threw her hands and legs at him to keep him away. He fought her legs and was able to kick him hard enough he fell on his back. Amber got up as quickly as she could and started to run towards the street and screamed a few times for help. She made it about 10ft. before something hit her feet and she tripped and fell. Amber looked up towards the street and cried for help again.

 

            Amber started to cry as she screamed out again for help when she got flipped around on her back and the man with the hoodie jumped on top of her and covered her mouth before Amber could scream again. He held her down as she tried to fight him off and then he ripped her purse off her shoulder and dumped the contents on the ground. Amber did not carry more than a few dollars in cash, all her money stayed in the bank and she used a card for so he did not look satisfied at what Amber had so he moved his hand to the bottom of her shirt and she could feel his dirty hand touch her stomach.

 

            She did not know what else to do as she kept trying to scream and fight him off as tears continued to roll down her face as she looked up at him and still couldn't see his face, but could hear him breathe and smell the alcohol.

 

            His gaze moved from Amber up towards the street and she could not believe what happened as the man on top of her lifted off the ground, away from her, and flew backwards into the alley and smashed into the building wall about 30ft. away. She leaned my head back and could see a man in a trench coat with his arm raised forward with his palm open. He slowly lowered his arm and looked at her as she rolled over on her stomach and slowly lifted herself up to her knees.

 

            “Are you okay?” He asked.

 

Amber lifted her head up to look at him and he moved from the entrance of the alley to where she was in a split second with no sound of footsteps. Amber wiped away some of the tears so she could see him better, the man was from the bookstore and under the trench coat the shirt and pants he wore were visible, but no glasses. She did not know what to say and the more she looked at him she realized that she had seen him somewhere before the bookstore, but had no idea where. Amber started to speak when something weird happened; she could feel everything start to get slower like time had slowed down like in her nightmare. She looked at the man and he seemed to notice as well so he turned around to look out towards the street and so she moved her gaze to the side of him to look where he was looking. It was there that my nightmare, something that I was so afraid of and believed to be a figment of my imagination came to life at the opening of the alley, the sides of the buildings seem to rise higher in the sky and as time slowed down almost to a halt as she saw a shadow of a man appear in front of them. It was the shadow from her nightmare; she could feel her body tense up and could not move because of the fear. Amber did not know what to do as she saw the shadow step towards her and could see vibrations emit from its body. She was stuck in reality and this was not a dream she could wake up from, which could not be real; Amber was not asleep. She was awake.

 

 

Author's Note

What's with the points thingy I keep seeing everywhere?